IPCC Special Report

Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has decided to prepare a scientific assessment on managing the risk of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation as proposed by UNISDR and Norway. This represents an unprecedented opportunity to bring the world's attention to accumulated knowledge and experience in reducing and managing disaster risk.

The report will involve experts worldwide and will be completed by mid 2011. As with all IPCC reports, IPCC will select authors nominated by Member States to assess published, peer-reviewed literature and prepare an assessment on the state of the science and practice. The focus of the report will be a review of disaster risk reduction and management policy and practice, its effectiveness and costs. Nine chapters will comprise the report, including one featuring 25 case studies from around the world.

IPCC has selected coordinating lead authors (CLA), lead authors (LA) and review editors (RE) from a large pool nominated by Governments and observer organizations. The writing team comprises experts in disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and climate-change impacts from around the world. More.

You can contribute documents for assessment: IPCC authors will need access to disaster risk reduction publications for assessment. Ideally documents should be published and peer reviewed. Because some materials relevant to the IPCC Report will not have been published or peer-reviewed (e.g., industry journals, internal organizational publications, non-peer reviewed reports or working papers of research institutions, proceedings of workshops, etc), authors will determine whether such documentation should be included in the assessment.

The process for submitting documents will be determined and announced shortly.

More Information

The IPCC is looking by 12 March 2010 for authors and review editors for the preparation of its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). Disaster risk reduction experts are encouraged to seek nomination in particular for Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Authors can be nominated by their country's IPCC Focal Point, their Ministry of Foreign Affairs or one of the Observer Organizations to the IPCC.